Late Wednesday, Onvia
ONVI, +0.00%
said its board determined that an unsolicited acquisition proposal made by Symphony Technology Group undervalues the company and that “a sale of Onvia at this time is not in the best interest of our stockholders.” The offer is to acquire all outstanding shares of Onvia common stock not already owned by Symphony Technology Group at a cash price of $4.25 a share, subject to due diligence and other conditions. Onvia’s shares closed the regular trading session Wednesday at $3.14. The Seattle-based company also said Symphony Technology plans to nominate a trio of candidates for election to the Onvia board at the 2012 annual meeting.

Vivus
VVUS, -0.52%
said the Food and Drug Administration is on track to consider April 17 its new drug application for the obesity candidate Qnexa. An FDA advisory committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday that Qnexa is safe and effective relative to risks and that it be granted marketing approval by the agency, the Mountain View, Calif.-based company said. The FDA is not bound by the recommendations of its advisory panels.

Along with reporting fourth-quarter and 2011 financial results, Polypore International Inc.
PPO
issued a cautious near-term outlook, saying results for the first quarter are likely to show a sequential decrease. For the fourth quarter, the Charlotte, N.C.-based company posted net profit of 56 cents a share and would have shown an adjusted profit of 58 cents a share, on sales of $191 million, up 13% from the final three months of 2010. Polypore “began to experience some headwinds” in the latest quarter, said President and Chief Executive Robert Toth, adding: “The global trends remain positive in all of our businesses and the long-term demand drivers remain intact.”

The board of Dana Holding Corp.
DAN, +0.69%
initiated a quarterly dividend on common stock in the amount of 5 cents a share, according to the Maumee, Ohio-based company. It’s payable March 30 to stockholders of record as of March 9. “Dana’s position of financial strength today allows us to provide a greater return to our common shareholders while also continuing to invest in our future through technology and growth initiatives,” said President and CEO Roger Wood in a statement. The former Dana Corp. filed for Chapter 11 nearly six years ago and emerged from bankruptcy in 2008.

The board of Analog Devices Inc.
ADI, +0.04%
approved a 20% increase in the company’s quarterly dividend on common stock. The new dividend of 30 cents a share is payable March 28 to holders of record as of March 9. The Norwood, Mass.-based company also issued a short-term update as it reported results late Wednesay for the first quarter ended Feb. 4. For the second quarter, Analog Devices projected earnings in a range of 48 cents to 53 cents a share, on revenue pegged at $655 million to $675 million.

In what the company said was a further reflection of the jump in the price of gold, the board of Newmont Mining Corp.
NEM, -1.71%
declared a quarterly dividend of 35 cents a share on common stock, payable March 29 to holders of record as of March 15. It marks the latest in a string of dividend increases for the Denver-based company, which follows a policy of linking payouts to its average realized gold price for the previous quarter.

The board of Cimarex Energy Co.
XEC, -0.92%
declared quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share, a 20% increase. The new dividend’s payable June 1 to holders of record as of May 15, the Denver-based oil and gas exploration and production company.

MarketAxess Holdings Inc.
MKTX, -1.29%
priced a secondary offering of nearly 3.6 million common shares at $30.50 each. The New York-based company said it won’t receive any of the proceeds of the public offering, scheduled to close Feb. 28. The sellers, affiliates of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
JPM, -0.45%
are closing out their ownership interest in MarketAxess, which has also agreed to buy back more than 1.8 million non-voting shares at the $30.50 price minus an underwriting discount.

Wednesday earnings recap

Hewlett-Packard Co.
HPQ, +0.15%
reported net earnings of $1.47 billion, or 73 cents a share, for the first quarter ended Jan. 31, down from $2.61 billion, or $1.17 a share, that the Dow Jones Industrial Average component earned in the comparable year-earlier period. On an adjusted basis, earnings would have been 92 cents a share for the latest quarter. Quarterly revenue fell to $30.04 billion from the prior year’s $32.3 billion. Analysts in a FactSet Research survey had been looking for a profit of 87 cents a share on revenue of $30.72 billion, on average. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company also forecast adjusted earnings for the second quarter of 88 cents to 91 cents a share; the FactSet-derived consensus stood at for 95 cents. Read more on H-P.

Limited Brands Inc.
LTD, +5.35%
posted a net profit of $359.4 million, or $1.17 a share, for the fourth quarter ended Jan. 28, down from $452.3 million, or $1.36 a share, earned in the same period a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, the Columbus, Ohio-based retailer’s earnings would have been $1.50 a share for the latest quarter, as net sales climbed to $3.52 billion from the prior year’s $3.46 billion. Limited Brands also steered Wall Street lower for the first quarter, estimating profit in a range of 35 cents to 40 cents a share, and projected full-year earnings of $2.60 to $2.80 a share. The consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had been for earnings of 44 cents a share and $2.91 a share, respectively.

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